Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Former NFL QB Bruce Gradkowski breaks down Kirk Cousins (and a Packers/Vikings hot routez)

Episode Date: September 11, 2020

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And just like the incredible tight ends we sit down with on my new show, the Chevy Silverado is in a league of its own. This truck is all about grit, strength, and dependability, the same attributes it takes to be a tight end. so welcome to another episode of purple insider matthew collar here and joining me i think we qualify as old friends now former nfl quarterback and he also works for pro football focus the man behind the curtain grading nfl throws for pff bruce gradkowski. What's up, Bruce? What's up, my man? I guess so, man. It's been a few years, you know, when we first met. So we are.

We're friends. We keep in touch. You know, we talk football and film and cousins and quarterbacks and all of the above. You know, I just got done actually grading some college throws from this weekend. So it's just exciting to know football's back, you know, and it's going to keep us busy. Well, I think we also have the Mac connection because I used to cover

the University of Buffalo's reporter, so we kind of got that, even though there's really no Mac this year. But, you know, we got that going for us as well. Do people know that you're the one that's doing the grading? Because it's always funny when I see it pop up when people criticize PFF grades and like, oh yeah, well, it's probably some guy who's never touched a football in his life. Well, well, you know what? Like there's so many of us that go through the process. I mean, because we grade every player, every play, and every game. So, you know, like every position, right, because every player.

And so there's so many people that are involved in this. And I have so much respect of now working with PFF and working for them and working with our team there's so many good guys that they're just grinders man i mean they're they're like coaches for pff you know they watch probably more film than coaches they watch more games for sure than coaches because we're watching everyone in every game and you know there's so many different checks and balances like my wife the other day you know I was telling her a story and um you know I actually made a mistake Matthew on a grade right so um the guy I kind of report to Ben he you know he hits me up

and he's you know saying hey man just just so you know, you did this or that. So I'm telling my wife, and she goes, wait a minute, so you're overseeing the grading, but he's overseeing you. I'm like, yeah, there's so many different checks and balances that we all try to hold everyone accountable. And if there's a play I get to that with the quarterback grade where I'm like, okay, I see that throw. Yeah, the receiver maybe was a little too deep. Man, did that defender get his hand in there?

But it was defensive pass interference. And, you know, there's so many different nuances that go into just one grade. And then I'll throw it into the chat with the rest of our graders. And, you know, we find common ground on what will give that exact play and grade. So, you know, it's cool because it's not just one guy saying, hey, it's this and that's it. I don't want to hear anything else from you. It's a collaborative effort because it's tough, man. It's tough.

You want to make sure we're doing this as accurate as we can and as fair as we can. You know, because, look, guys' livelihoods for the NFL are on the line. Guys' hopes and dreams are on the line for college. And there's a lot at stake. And we also want to give a great product to the fans. And I think that's important, and I do. I think we do a really good job because we work hard at it. And everyone, you know, makes mistakes, whatever your job is.

But, man, if you care and you're working hard, you know, you're going job is but man if you care you're working hard you know you're going to get past mistakes and move on so yeah I'm just proud to be a part of it right now so I want to know how hard this is for you as a former NFL quarterback to be critical of some of the other quarterbacks like giving a guy because I know it's on the on a scale so to really hammer somebody with a grade for a certain play, I mean, is that harder because you're like, ah, I've done that myself. I understand how that might work. I mean, what has that been like for you to go through this?

And then I'd also be curious about just what you've learned about quarterback play from grading every single throw. Yeah, so I think, yeah, I mean, since I played the position, I can have some either sympathy on a play and say, no, no, that was harder than it looked, you know, with how that receiver ran it and with how the defense alignment got in his way and he couldn't really step into the throw. That was a more difficult throw than you could imagine. and then on the other side it's like no totally you know Baker Mayfield was hot on that play he should have threw his hot

that's on him 100% for taking that safety and that was a specific play last year that happened so um yeah the experience helps and you know look man I'm not trying to you know act like I you know I'm Tom Brady's Super Bowl champ MVP and all that. But I do understand and know football and understand concepts and know the timing and rhythm that it takes to play the position and stuff like that. So you definitely try to be fair and also conscious of, you know, with my experience of being in it, it definitely has helped. How would you feel if you were in the NFL and someone like you was grading you? Because I think of this all the time because now players get asked about, oh, well, you were this ranked quarterback or whatever else by PFF because seven or eight years ago there were only a handful of journalists

using PFF grades. And now it's like everywhere that you see them, which I think is amazing for PFF. And even just having someone like you grading the quarterbacks really raises the profile. But I wonder what you would have felt like if you had looked back at a PFF grade and been like, what, this guy gave me a 60 for that game? Well, honestly, Matthew, believe it or not, when I first started working for PFF, it was like last summer before last football season. And I'm in town in Cincinnati, and they have the Steeler game from 09, the Raiders versus Steelers, when I was the quarterback for the Raiders.

And I was asking, so I could go back and see what they gave me on throws. And there was this one that almost got intercepted, hit right off the DB's chest. And I was like, wait, what did you guys give me on that? I was like, do you understand this was a post route? Watch my receiver. He double dipped me. He went inside. You're always supposed to cross face on the corner.

And so I got to fix one of my grades. Oh, was that? That's awesome. Was that the game that you were really good in? Yeah, yeah. That was probably my best game in the NFL. In 09, the Raiders, we went to play the Steelers at Hines Field. And, yeah, I threw for like 300 yards, three touchdowns.

The last second touchdown passed with like 15 seconds remaining to beat the Steelers. So that was pretty cool just, you know, because I'm from Pittsburgh. And it was a moment that it was all coming together. And, you know, believe it or not, the next week we're playing Washington. And I take a hit and I tear my left MCL. And, you know, but I could still move. I could still walk. So I'm like, okay, so I keep playing.

And then the second quarter, I tear my right MCL. So I tore both my MCLs in the same game. And then I go to the locker room, and they, like, brace me up and take me up. I take, you know, whatever shots I need to. And I'm walking out of the locker room like, how the heck am I going to finish this game? And I remember Tom Cable, the head coach at the time, came up and he's like, what's up?

And I was like, I tore both my MCLs. He's like, get out of here. You're done. Go sit on the bench. But it was kind of, yeah, so that kind of sums up my career. You know, I had some steam. I had some momentum. Then I dealt with a few injuries.

And then even that offseason, I was going to be the starter going into the next year. And I tore my left pec off the bone. So, you know, different like that, different things like that you have to manage and overcome, persevere. Like we're all going through different situations, our jobs, you know, things of that, family issues and stuff like that. You just have to find time to find ways to persevere and stay positive during difficult times.

Well, for one, just want to say that you know that this show has the greatest respect for journeyman quarterbacks. So, you know, much respect for your career and your journey that you went on. And all those things sound horrible, torn MCLs and pecked muscles off the bone. Like, that's why you play in the NFL and I play golf badly on weekends because that's insane. And of course, talent is also part of it. But, you know But it is interesting that you bring that up because there are so many factors that go into contextualizing a PFF grade. And I think about Kirk Cousins in 2018 versus 2019.

2018 Kirk Cousins was in an offense that did not fit him with John D. Filippo. He wanted to be out of the shotgun all the time, wanted to have three or four wide receivers all the time, and that was just not who Kirk Cousins is. And then Gary Kubiak and Kevin Stefanski implement a much more Shanahan-style, Kubiak-style offense, and it just worked perfectly for Kirk Cousins. And you put out a video the other day about just how he was one of the top-graded quarterbacks last year. What was the difference in your mind for why Kubiak's offense works so much better for Kirk Cousins? Well, it's just, you know, it's friendly to the quarterback.

I think the play action pass game, it works well. You know, it's, you know, I think Kirk Cousins can execute that like to perfection. If you look at Cousins' grade this past year, if you take out the Week 2 game against the Packers, Cousins' grade was in the 90s for us at PFF, and that was as good as any quarterback in the league overall last year. And if you look at Cousins' last two years, he's had the same grade as

Patrick Mahomes from a clean pocket. And a clean pocket from us is, you know, you're in timing and rhythm. There's no one around you. You can make the throw without any, you know, variation and people getting in your way or inhibiting you. And I thought that was impressive and um you know so like Cousins is an impressive quarterback and with with the way Gary Kubiak his system works with the with the run game the play action pass and it just it marries all together the timing and rhythm that Kubiak brings to the offense it just man it was it's an offense I always dreamed of playing him when Kubiak was in Houston with Schaub all those years I was like man you remember Schaub's like just rhythm and timing and loft the ball over the middle of the field I mean it was just perfect

so I think you know and just watching Cousins in this offense that's why I have confidence that he's gonna have another good season I really believe it and I think last year too getting over the hump winning a playoff game you know that that's you know that's important and I think I think he's getting over that hump a lot of people kind of probably want to yeah any anything Cousins says they want to jump on him about but But, man, it's not easy, you know. And if you look at Cousins over the years, he's handled some adversity being in Washington with the franchise tag multiple years

and playing in a situation that, you know, the team's not really investing you for the long term. So you kind of have to play with those mental emotions. And then, you know, playing through that, still playing well, and then he gets a contract in Minnesota and then everyone wants to bash him because oh he's making all this money he should be this this and that so I think you know for handling all that where he's at he does a really good job um and now it's just can he get to that next level next level you're talking about a Tom Brady or Drew Brees you know Patrick Mahomes guys that win Super Bowls and championships and that's what I think we want to see well I think it's funny that

you could have just ended at being in Washington is adversity on its own just having played for that franchise is kind of is something that guys have to overcome. Now, I wonder what it is from a quarterback's eyes that you see that makes him so good with those play actions and with those bootlegs because it's something we talk about all the time. Kubiak putting these in, and we saw a massive increase in his play action percentage. And anybody who watched it last year just saw all the open space that is created schematically.

But from the quarterback, not everybody executes these at as high of a level as Kirk Cousins. And oftentimes, your buddies at PFF will say that play-action quarterback rating, for example, or grade is not repeatable. But for Kirk Cousins, it has been. For his whole career, he's one of the top play-action quarterbacks. So why do you think that is? You know, play-action pass, like a lot of people think quick game is the easiest. But if you're throwing a quick game, it's got to be you have to make quick,

decisive decisions. You have to be very reactionary and be able to be decisive on your read and be accurate and tight windows when you get to play action pass now as a quarterback especially for guys that aren't the biggest like I was never the biggest guy I mean Cousins isn't humongous he's what six two or so so we're not six five six six stand in the pocket sometimes with the play action pass you could get more depth in your drop, and the field kind of opens up more.

Now you're throwing passes in the 18 to 22-yard range where, you know, there's pockets in the defense, and there's a lot more grass and room to work with because, you know, linebackers suck up on the run fake, and now you have that separation downfield. And you don't – it's not about arm strength. A lot of people think it's about arm strength, but it's not. It's about timing and rhythm and throwing the right trajectory of the ball

over defenders. And, you know, Cousins does that better than anyone. Like his intermediate passing from 10 to 19 yards is really good. So I think that when you get the play-action pass, that's what helps. That's why I think of Baker Mayfield this year. I think he's going to have a better year with Kevin Stefanski there because he's going to implement more play-action pass. And I remember that's where Mayfield plays pretty well at

when he's able to operate from a play-action pass type of offense. I want to remind you to go to SodaStick.com to get your original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. They just launched their official collaboration with Bud Grant. Yes, Bud Grant. You can now get your official Bud Grant shirt and Man Cave art print. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to check it out, and we're going to hook you up with free shipping for your order. Use code PURPLEINSIDER for free shipping.

That is SOTASTICK, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com, original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. Code PURPLEINSIDER for free shipping. I totally agree with Baker Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski that that Kubiak-style offense is built for somebody like him. Let's talk about some of the downsides of Cousins because your buddy Sam Monson was on the other day, and he was saying that with Cousins, the grades all match up,

and he's very, very good, and he's got great throwing ability and all that, but there's something missing there, and he kind of put it under the intangible category. Now, I think it's unfair that Cousins gets pinned with his Monday night football record. Having seen a couple of those games, some were on Cousins, some were not on Cousins, and sometimes when he was in Washington, in fact, a lot of times when he was in Washington, he was the worst team. Washington was not on Monday night football or Sunday Night Football because of that team.

It was because they were playing the Packers. You know, it's like you're going, Aaron Rodgers is on Monday Night Football, and oh yeah, here's the team he's playing against. And so a lot of times Cousins played well on national TV, and it just wasn't really his fault that they lost. But, you know, at the same time, there is a gap there. You mentioned, like, the clean pocket grade and how when everything is on rhythm and working that he's great.

But there are other times where Vikings fans will say in the first quarter, uh-oh, this is going to be a bad day for him. If he checks down to C.J. Hamm three times in a row on the first drive, this is not going to be a bad day for him if he checks down to cj ham three times in a row on the first drive this is not going to be a good day for cousins and there seems to be an extra gear that he doesn't get to and i don't know if that's a good way to describe it well i don't know if i necessarily would look at like if he starts the game checking the ball down because honestly as a quarterback i would love to get completions early. You want to get into, like, a little rhythm. And maybe it's not the prettiest or you're not gaining the most yards, but sometimes as a quarterback, if you could just get some completions,

now you feel the momentum, right? Now you're confident. Okay, now let me take those shots downfield. So I don't necessarily look at that. I just think, look, it's tough. It's tough to be consistently good week in and week out, you know, and year in and year out. That's why Drew Brees, Tom Brady, those guys are on a pedestal, you know,

because of, you know, how consistent they've been good throughout their whole career, 20-some years in the NFL. And I think with Cousins, like, yeah, like people want to look at his primetime football stats, like, you know, his win-loss record. And it just kind of stinks sometimes as a quarterback because it's going to get put on us.

You know, at the end of the day, win or lose, it's going to get put on the quarterback. So sometimes the quarterbacks get more recognition than maybe they deserve. And other times they get hammered because of the loss that they probably don't deserve. So it just comes with playing the position. And I think, you know, when people, you know, think of Kirk Cousins and they think of the contracts and stuff like that, now they want to say live up to that, you know, win a Super Bowl,

take them to the next level. And I also think with the Vikings being so close before they signed Cousins, and it was almost like Cousins was the signing to get them there, you know, that's why there's so many eyeballs on it, you know, because, you know, But I just keep looking back that, man, it's hard. I mean, it's hard to win in this league, and especially year in and year out, and to win a Super Bowl. So, I mean, even Patrick Mahomes, the year he had, I mean, last year winning a Super Bowl, but the previous year, MVP,

and all the touchdowns, it's hard to duplicate, right? Like last year he won the Super Bowl, but he didn't have the same statistical year that he did prior. So it's hard to replicate those years. And you just got to find a way. And sometimes it's just, you know, tucking the ball down and running on third and five and pick up the first down like Mahomes did throughout the playoffs last year a few times. So those are the things things but it's tough playing that position you're going to get a lot of heat you know if you do lose some games well so on the point about checking down to cj ham i i just mean that because of course you're right to get the offense in rhythm

and going i i just mean that there are times where cousins kind of has a little bit of a deer in the headlights look to him and i know you've seen this because you've watched every play. There's just this, like, I'll give you an example, and maybe you remember it. The start of the game in Kansas City when Matt Moore and the Chiefs beat the Vikings there, there was just, he kind of, you know, threw a ball short to Adam Thielen, which he normally wouldn't do when Thielen was wide open. And there was just a little bit of, like, from the very start, oh, this kind of looks like it's going to be an issue and then you know there seems to be a

specific sort of kryptonite the teams can find against Cousins and I mean I agree on all of your points about how how much pressure is on him how if this was another team if he had been playing for Jacksonville with no expectations and won 19 games over the last two years, you know, then you would look at it like, oh, wow, okay, Cousins must be doing really well down there. But the contract, the team that he joined, it all put him under a kind of a spotlight. But I wonder where you think that he could be even better to get them to that place that they want to go, because this is not Jacksonville or Washington. This is a very stable franchise with a front office that has continually given him lots to work with. Even they trade Stephon Diggs and still have a very good group of weapons. I mean, so

I guess I look at it as what is that next step? Yeah, I think, well, you pointed out it is. It's a fantastic organization from top down. I'm a huge Mike Zimmer fan. I think he well, you pointed it out. It is. It's a fantastic organization from top down. I'm a huge Mike Zimmer fan. I think he does an amazing job, you know, because I was with him in Cincinnati. So I worked up and close, close and personal with him. I ran the scout team offense versus his starting defense. So, of course, I was out there always talking crap every day and trying to get his guys to jump off sides to get him all mad and cuss me out. But we had a lot of good competitive battles and a lot of respect for one another.

And, you know, Zimmer just wants you to go to work. He wants you to work hard. He wants you to understand what to do and be detailed about it and be a professional. And, you know, Cousins is all that. You know, and now to take the next step, yes, you know, we'll see if Justin Jefferson can step up and bring what we think he can. You know, Adam Thielen, we know what he could do. Dalvin Cook with, you know, what he brings.

And defensively, I mean, I think they need to step up. We'll see if the young corners can step up. But, you know, I think just like all of us I think at times you know I've been around guys when I was backing up Big Ben in Pittsburgh and the difference between like Big Ben and myself for instance was Ben would throw a couple interceptions in a game and he would not it would it would seem like it didn't even bug him at all like he wouldn't even think twice about it and I had you know playing the quarterback position you do have to have a short-term memory you have to move on and get to the next play and forget about and I was

good with that but I also like when I had time to think about it I would beat myself up about every throw and I think they're great quarterbacks you could beat yourself up but you got to move on and you know there's something about just knowing you're the guy and knowing you're gonna find a way like I think the reason Ben was so confident and maybe didn't I don't want to say care uh when he threw an interception but he was able to move on fast, is because Ben knew, just give me the ball again, and I will make those plays. I will throw for six touchdowns in the game I threw three interceptions, and then the three interceptions don't look like anything. You know, so it's knowing that you have the confidence that,

just give me the ball right back, and I'll show you I can make plays. So it's just having that mindset. And I think with Kirk Cousins, it is. It's just having that confidence that, look, you are one of the top QBs in the league. Now it's time to just, you know, don't be so hard on yourself, you know, because there's going to be ebbs and flow throughout a game, throughout a season.

And I think that's what he handled well last year. You know, the week two against the Packers, it wasn't a very good game, but he bounced back. There was a lot of heat on the Vikings early on last season, and look at how they finished. So it's battling those times, and I think with that playoff win, that's one more notch to the belt that gives Cousins more of the confidence to say, look, okay, we could do this

now. So it's more maybe individual type goals and overcoming some things throughout your career. And I think Cousins has kind of hit those throughout his path. And now I think this is going to be a big year, what we see from Cousins. Yeah, I think that that's a great way to put it. And I was talking to George Iloka about this, the same thing. I asked him what is it when a quarterback has the kind of it factor that makes it so hard on a defense. He said that he used the same exact example with Roethlisberger. He said no matter how many times we hit him, no matter how many times we picked him off or whatever,

he would just keep coming. He would never kind of back off or slow down, or he would always just have the next throw ready. And I don't know that that's really been the case with Cousins. It's almost like if a team can kind of get to him, then it's going to be a long day for him. You know, he had the comeback against Denver, but Denver's a bad team. They didn't pressure him at all in that game. I think six pressures and 40 dropbacks. So it's when teams are hitting you that that's when you see Cousins not perform as well, which I know is the case for a lot of quarterbacks, but I think specifically with him, which is, this is what worries me about this offense, Bruce, is left guard, right guard, and center. And,

you know, there's only so much with scheme that you can do so when we're trying to figure out how good will the vikings be i think that their one failing as a front office is not giving people right in front a good like good big giant fat people right in front of cousins that that can you know go against the the tough guys of the nfc north i think that that is where they have made their biggest mistake is they've given him weapons and they've given him money, but they haven't given him guards. Yeah.

Well, you know, it is tough too because college football is different now. You know, there's a lot of RPOs and a lot of spread offenses. So it's different, you know, pass protections and so forth. So, you know, you can hit on guys, and there's other guys, man, that you're like, man, I thought this guy was going to be good. When you talk about out front, offense line, defense line, and I just think, too, it's in games. Like, you know, we talked about my Steeler game in 09

when I was with the Raiders playing the Steelers, and it was one of the best games in my career now because I handled that game the adversity that came with it there's ups and downs there was injuries to our offensive line and you just take it as it comes now where I think back of you know where I could have gotten better in my career is I could handle a game, but could I handle multiple seasons in a row of handling the ups and downs of are you the guy, are you not, should you be starting, should they cut you, should they pay you, should they trade you,

all these things of being able to handle that and staying consistent. And I think Cousins does a pretty good job at that. And then we talk about teams getting pressure on them and hitting them. able to handle that and staying consistent and i think cousins does a pretty good job at that and then it goes you know then we talk about you know teams getting pressure on them hitting them now that's now that's more in-game a more in-game conscious awareness to say okay i'm getting the crap beat out of me right now we're not protecting well what can i do in my game to help the offense line what what can kubiak and this is where where Kubiak will come in and play a big role, is what kind of plays can he call screens to running back,

to the wide receivers, play action pass, you know, the running game, and get that going that could take pressure off or help the offense line in moments where they're struggling and make in-game adjustments. So there's so much that goes into it and plays a part of when and why the quarterback will be successful. Okay, Bruce, before we wrap up, we have a tradition on the show of doing pie charts. You are familiar with pie charts, are you not? Okay, you know what that is.

So here's what I want you to give me a pie chart. Percentage chance that Kirk Cousins grades as a top five quarterback, a fifth to tenth, tenth to fifteenth, or bottom half of the league, or fifteenth or beyond. So percentage, you know how pie chart works. So you assign a percentage, you have to add up to 100. So percentage chance he ends up as a top five, top 10, top 15, or below top 15 quarterback in 2021. All right. So I probably won't be good with like maybe the math right now. Everyone

messes it up, so it's okay. So let's go the first, let's go the top, let's go the top one to five. I'm going to say if he – is he going to be a top one to five guy? I'm going to say the chance of him getting that is 30%. Okay, that's a good number. The chance of him being – Are you doing it in your head? Have you made like a – have you drawn a circle on a piece of paper? Yeah, no, I'm just – well, I could do that.

So draw a circle. So I got 30%. Love the pie chart. Is him being a top five. All right, 70% left to work with. I'll help you out here. Right. And I'm going to go 60.

I'm going to go 65%. He's top 10. Wow. Okay. Yeah. All right. So, wait, are you adding the 30 and 35? Yeah.

Okay. So now you have 35 left to work with? No, so I'm – wait, I got 5%, right, to work with. Oh, okay. So, oh, I see. You mean – all right, I got you. I wasn't sure – all right. Yeah, so I'm saying, like, I believe 65% that he's going to be a top 10 quarterback.

Okay, I see. I believe there's a 30% chance he's going to be a top five. I got you. And then above all that, and I think maybe you wanted me to have two more breakdowns, but I think talking about above the top 10, I'd say there's 5%. Wow. Okay. That's a little bit hot take pie chart, Bruce.

Only 5% chance that he's outside the top 10? Yeah, I think so. Wow. I think so. I'm going to do it. I mean, if we're talking about that, I think we're talking about a great year for the Vikings then. So you need to, yeah, keep this in your record books.

Oh, yeah, we'll have it. We'll have it for sure. Let's talk at the end of the season. He has been like right on 10th a couple times in his career, and he has been outside of the top 10 I think twice as a starter. So you're really buying into Kubiak, the weapons. You're buying into his progression as a quarterback. That's good.

This is why we did the pie chart, Bruce. That's it, brother. And I want to say, let's be clear. So if he's 10th, that counts as in the top 10. Yes, it counts as top 10, yes. Okay. See, initially I thought you were going like 30 and then 35%, so 65%, and then 35 he was outside of the top 10.

And I thought, okay, all right, that sounds about right. But you decided to turn the heat up to 11 here on this show. I turned it up, man, because, look, I just think with Kubiak right now running this offense too, I just, yeah. All right. Yeah, he's going to be a top ten guy. That's great. So you can follow Bruce on Twitter at BGradkowski5.

It's really cool to see Bruce because, because when we first started talking, you were kind of just a little post-career, and you were trying to figure out, should I be a podcaster or what should I do? And now you're working with PFF, and it's very, very cool to see. You were also on the PFF Forecast podcast not too long ago. Great, great conversation about you going back and regrading Russell Wilson, which was super interesting to listen to. So it's fun to see for me, Bruce,

and I love getting together with you, man. Let's do it again. Heck yeah, brothers. Thanks for having me on. Get back to the conversation in just a minute, but first, you've always counted on restaurants, and now they're counting on you. And while their dining rooms may be closed,

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and your food is on its way. Right now, our listeners can get $5 off and zero delivery fees on their first order of $15 or more when you download the DoorDash app and enter the code BLUEWIRE. That's $5 off and zero delivery fees for your first order when you download the DoorDash app and enter the code BLUEWIRE. That's $5 off and zero delivery fees for your first order when you download the DoorDash app at the App Store and enter the code BLUEWIRE. Don't forget, that's code BLUEWIRE for $5 off your first order with DoorDash. Sunday, Sunday, Sundays are coming back in the NFL with NFLSundayTicket.tv. You can stream every live, out-of-market NFL game

and every Sunday afternoon on your favorite devices, plus Red Zone and DirecTV Fantasy Zone channels. Never miss your favorite team and favorite players. No matter where you live, NFLSundayTicket.tv is your key to the most glorious Sundays ever. Use the promo code BLUEWIRE at checkout to get 15% off your subscription. Visit NFLSundayTicket.tv and use promo code BLUEWIRE. All right, we welcome in my friend Rami Maklov,

who, by the way, has been a trader recently and has been hosting in Milwaukee to help preview this Vikings and Packers game with some serious hot routes. What is going on, Rami? Just behind enemy lines, Collar. I'm just here for recon. I'm just gathering info. I'll bring it back to you anytime you ask, man.

I'm just here to gather the info for you. Have you learned the names of their current receivers that aren't Devontae Adams while you've been hosting? There's two guys, I think, with three names. There's Marquez Valdez-Scantling, and is uh Equinemius St. Brown well that's not technically three names but it's it's almost three names Equinemius St. Brown those are some names dude like I don't and and those guys got drafted right before I left for Minnesota and both have like a lot of physical abilities and that's why they got drafted or whatever if they can just be

as good as their names at playing football the Packers have something there in their wide receiver core because those are regal names for wide receivers. Seems unlikely that they'll meet their name potential. Well, Aaron Nagler was on the show the other day. Love Aaron Nagler. And he said, oh, I'm really interested to see what Tyler Irvin does. I was like, yes, I too know who Tyler Irvin is. Like, go off the board, man.

Like, who is that? I was surprised they cut fan favorite Jake Kummerow. Yeah, right. If the Wisconsin team has a chance to have a gritty wide receiver like that. You mean right. You're saying gritty, but you mean white. It's true. Packer Nation loves their wide receivers.

Like Jordy Nelson being the premier wide receiver of the Green Bay Packers was like chef's kiss. How about like Bill Schrader years ago, right? They've always had that one guy. Nelson was just different because he was really super good, but they've always had that one guy nelson was just different because he was really super good but they've always had that like fourth or fifth wide receiver who's a special teamer or something and is a white guy so oh i'm trying to remember who they had a guy a few years ago who was just not not a good wide receiver um but he was really good on special teams but everybody

wanted him to be aaron rogers favorite wide. I can't think of his name right now. Oh, man. There was a guy who caught, like, one or two passes for them, and one of them was, like, really important, and he was a white special teamer. It was a Hail Mary in Detroit. You know what? While we're talking, I'm going to Google Packers. I'm going to try and see if I can find him.

It must have been, like, 2017? Jeff Janis. Yes. Jeff Janis. Yes, Jeff Janis. That's right. That's the dude. Let's see what Jeff Janis' career looks like. 17 receptions, 200 yards. He's not a good receiver, but he was actually a really good special teamer.

Okay. Was it in the playoffs that he caught that Hail Mary? It was either in the playoffs or a game to get him into the playoffs. Oh, yes, okay. So in 2015, he had seven catches for 145 yards in the playoffs and became a Packer legend and two touchdowns. Oh, my gosh. Whoa.

He had 17 regular season receptions and seven in one playoff run. Okay, much respect to Jeff Janis. And I can't tell you how many calls I got because I was working in Milwaukee at the time, Collar. Why aren't they using Janis? This guy is huge. He can run, and he also doesn't know routes and can't catch the football. That's a problem at wide receiver.

Yeah, well, now they have that for all their other wide receivers other than Devontae Adams. All right. Well, let's get into these hot routes, Rami. For anyone not familiar with the hot routes, I have five questions. Usually they're based on the day's headlines, but in this case they are based entirely on Vikings and Packers, and they go a little bit off the board from your usual how is the slot receiver versus nickel corner matchup for this week so the first

question I have for you Rami hold on I've got to mess with my computer okay here we go is which of these two teams the Vikings or Packers will win more football games over the next five years? You know that's a borderline impossible question to answer. The NFL is so inconsistent and up and down and unpredictable, and both those teams' QB situation is kind of up in the air as far as the immediate future, the next one or two years. So the only way that I can answer that question is to look at the last two or three drafts of these two teams and, and stay which one I think has had better drafts. And that's been the Vikings. I mean,

last year they got three or four guys out of that draft class who immediately came in and contributed right away. And I really like what they did with this year's draft class. So the last two or three years, I think the Vikings have won the draft versus what the Green Bay Packers have done. And that's really all you have to go on if you're asking me which one of these teams is going to win more games for the next five years. If I was sure Aaron Rodgers was going to be, you know, Aaron Rodgers and was going to be the Packers quarterback for the next five years, I'd say the Packers because that dude, when he's at the top of his game he's 10 wins alone you know

what I mean but none of neither of those things are necessarily foregone conclusions we don't know that Rodgers will get back to that level and we don't know even if he does if he'll be a Packer for very long because they just traded up to get his replacement. So with that up in the air and the Vikings QB situation to some extent up in the air after the next two years, it's really hard to say I'm going to go on the draft classes and say the Vikings. I like the question because of the uncertainty with the quarterbacks. I mean, you could very well see Jordan Love just be awful in practice, and then they give him a chance next year in the preseason if they keep Rodgers around, and he's still really, really bad, and it ends up being a Brian Brom situation

where they drafted a guy and everybody talked about it, and it meant absolutely nothing. This has happened before, and really the history of late first-round picks, there aren't that many great quarterbacks who come from late in the first round. Rodgers would be one of them. Teddy Bridgewater, I think, falls into the category of at least an NFL starting quarterback. But you have many more like Johnny Manziel's that come from the end of the first round that turn out Brandon Whedon's that turned out to be just about nothing.

And so I wouldn't be shocked if that happened and Rodgers continued to be good for the next couple of years with maybe some steady decline. But I also wouldn't be surprised if after this year they just traded Rodgers to Buffalo or something, right? Right, yeah. Makes it really hard to predict for them. The Vikings, I think, will have Kirk Cousins for three years, and they will be eight, nine, ten win teams for each season.

So do you value the stability of that versus the potential high end if Jordan Love is really good? I don't think he's going to be, but it's possible that he is. I would still say the Vikings as well because I think that their front office has a better idea of what they're doing. I'm not even sure that Matt LaFleur will be the coach going forward if they have a bad year this year and then he ends up on the hot seat.

I think that there's a lot more variance when it comes to what the Packers could be over the next few years than the Vikings, who have just built a very, very stable roster and stable situation. So unless you think this year the Packers win 13 again, I would probably go with the Vikings as well. But, yes, it's intentionally designed to not have a great answer. When you talk about the future of Jordan Love, though, and I see everything you see, all the signs that point to him maybe not being that great and that being a questionable decision to do what they did.

You know, Collar, and I'm sitting here. People can't see the video. We're recording this via Zoom, but you're only using the the audio I sit here with a Bears hat on and a portrait of Walter Payton over my left shoulder I'm born and raised Chicago Bears fan I'm terrified that Jordan Love is just the next coming because my my whole life basically has been Hall of Fame quarterbacks beating up on my football team and I know Vikings fans who are listening to you right now have that same trauma. And even if it doesn't really look like Jordan Love will be that great at this point, you just kind of go, yeah, but he probably will be

because that's been our life in the NFC North of just getting beat up by Hall of Fame Packers quarterbacks. It most certainly has. With Jordan Love, though, and maybe you should never be this confident that something isn't going to work out, but the history of the league, when you draft guys, or at least the last 20, 30 years, if you draft guys who weren't good in college, it's just going to be really hard to convince me they'll be good in the NFL.

Right. No, I get it. I mean, that would be like drafting a basketball player at the top who scored six points a game in college. Like, is it possible the guy becomes good? Yeah, but shouldn't he be scoring for North Carolina or whatever? Right. It's just like a sort of remove all of the, well, he's got this tool

and that tool and whatever, and just pull back and say, why wasn't he that good at Utah State? Why was he like the fifth or sixth best quarterback in his own conference, if you're going to tell me that he's going to be the next Aaron Rodgers? So yeah, I'm really not confident in that situation working out, but I also think he'll be better than most Bears quarterbacks have ever been. So there is that. I appreciate that. Speaking of quarterbacks, I want you to tell me which list is better. If we're taking like a top three or four, the Packers backup quarterbacks under Brett Favre

or the Vikings all-time quarterback list. And if you just went, huh, what? Here's a couple of backup quarterbacks. I was going to say, give me some names. Kurt Warner was a backup under Favre. He was pretty good. Mark Brunel and Matt Hasselbeck were all backup quarterbacks under Favre. And if you compare that to the Vikings all-time list, so, of course, Fran Tarkenton,

but you have a Hall of Famer there. Kurt Warner's a Hall of Famer. So they kind of cancel each other out. Excuse me. You left out Jim McMahon. I just have to point out Famer. So they kind of cancel each other out. Excuse me. You left out Jim McMahon. I just have to point out. You left out the punky QB. But that one's equal because he played for both teams.

So they both get equal credit for having the coolest quarterback of all time, Jim McMahon. I think that the Packers backups under Favre have a better list potentially than the rest of Vikings quarterbacks. If you think of Kirk Cousins as kind of a Mark Brunel, then is Brad Johnson your Matt Hasselbeck? Yeah, I mean, if anything, it's a watch. I mean, it's pretty damn close.

Like, after Fran Tarkenton, you're right. It's like a bunch of dudes who could very well have been Brett Favre's backup. If you look at their production and what they went on to do with their careers, I think it's even. Fran Tarkenton might give the Vikings all-time quarterbacks the edge, but if you remove him from the equation, I think it's probably a wash and it's even between the all-time great Vikings quarterbacks and edge but if you remove him from the equation I think it's probably a wash and it's even between the all-time great Vikings quarterbacks and Packers backups it depends on whether you think of this as a technicality or not Aaron Rodgers was a Brett Favre backup for several years oh yeah you know that's true considering he wasn't like a number one overall pick he was

no you're right park of a Jordan I don't even think it's that close if we include Aaron Rodgers. It's not even close because if I'm going to include Fran Tarkenton, you have to include Aaron Rodgers. And Aaron Rodgers, I know we're talking to Vikings fans right now, and I don't know if they want to admit this or not. He was better than Fran Tarkenton. So, yeah, no, I think Packers backups take it. I left Aaron Rodgers out of the equation.

That's a great point. There's another Aaron also that was a Favre backup who turned out to have a pretty good career. And maybe in today's NFL would have been great. Aaron Brooks is another guy. And then you've got some gems. You've got, like, of course, Doug Peterson, his golfing buddy. The Magic Man, Don Majowski. Steve Bono was a backup of his.

I mean, you just, what a great crew of backup quarterbacks behind. But if we, I think even if you don't include Aaron Rodgers and you do include Aaron Brooks, like who is the comparable Aaron Brooks? Maybe it's Cunningham because Brooks was only briefly awesome. Right. And Cunningham was only briefly awesome as a Viking. But I just, I love no it's not even dude after you after you filled out this list and especially throwing Aaron Rodgers in

there it's it's really it's it's now it's not even close like you've been you've increased the gap between Packers backups and all-time great Vikings quarterbacks like think about how many better backup quarterbacks Favre alone had than the Chicago Bears have had? What? That's not what I came here for today. That's not what I came here for today. Incredible. That's incredible.

Thanks. I mean, Mark Brunel would be the best Bears quarterback of all time, not Sid Luckman. Probably. I won't even argue that. That's amazing. All right, next question for you, Rami. If you had $ million dollars or you had

to play for a football game for one million dollars would you rather pick the location as lambeau field or u.s bank stadium for you to be the the home team hold on i'm not sure i totally understand this okay sorry i i made that more convoluted than it needs to be so you're playing a football game for one million dollars your team versus squad x okay okay and they say oh you won the coin flip you can pick the location it's either between lambeau field or u.s bank stadium and you get the home crowd cheering for you so i'm which one gives me the better home field advantage correct oh it's not a roundabout way of asking, it's not even close. That's a roundabout way of asking it. It's not even close. And I haven't been to U.S. Bank Stadium.

I've been to Lambeau, but I've heard both watching them on TV or listening on the radio. And U.S. Bank Stadium gets much, much, much louder than Lambeau Field. I mean, part of it is that they put a roof on it. And part of it is just that is all the sound that they pump in through the sound system in the U.S. Bank Stadium. They don't really do that in Lambeau Field. It's more of like that old school experience. They have some newer, more modern elements to the in-game production, but it is nowhere near the horns and the drums.

And I'm pretty sure that they've been pumping in crowd noise. I think every team that has an indoor stadium probably pumps in a little crowd noise to make it difficult on the opposing offense. Just the elements that come with it. I think U.S. Bank Stadium is a much greater home field advantage. And if you want to talk about the weather and those types of elements, Aaron Rodgers does not do well in cold weather. Aaron Rodgers does much better in Dome Stadium.

He does much better. He has a great track record in the state of California where he's from. So I don't even know that weather necessarily would give the Packers or give that a greater home field advantage than it would to U.S. Bank Stadium. I would also pick U.S. Bank Stadium because I've never heard any place louder aside from maybe the Superdome. The Superdome, you, like when I covered the playoff game there this last year, I left exhausted from the noise. Like me, a reporter sitting in the press box watching the game. Like I cannot imagine the toll that that takes on you as a player going through that.

And I think U.S. Bank Stadium is right up there with the Superdome. And you mentioned there's some more modern elements to the U.S. Bank Stadium than there is the Superdome. It's got to be top three in terms of the loudest. The only thing that I was going to bring up for an advantage is the aura of Lambeau Field, I think, matters, that it is intimidating. I mean, it is a palace of football, and walking out there, you've got to have that feeling.

And for the Vikings, it probably doesn't make any difference at this point. But for other teams, if you're playing your first game there, you've got to walk out and be like, wow, this is Lambeau Field. Like, this is the most football-y football thing that could ever happen. And there's some intimidation factor there. But usually I think Lambeau Field's biggest advantage has usually just been the quarterback on the other side. Yeah. It's been Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers or Bart Starr.

And I think that that gives them a bigger advantage. Where the U.S. Bank Stadium, it legitimately helps the Vikings' defense be better at football, and I think that that matters. Also, have you ever gone to Lambeau and just sat in the seats, not gone and covered a game there? No, I haven't gone in the seats. I've only been in the press box. Packers fans might listen to this because I'm a big deal in Wisconsin,

so don't take this the wrong way. I'm not saying that Packers fans are, like, passive in any way or they don't care about the game. This is a compliment. They're super nice. They're really, really, I can give you two stories. One a friend of mine or one me in particular, my friend was there for the, for the T.O. catch at Lambeau, the big, the historic T.O. catch. And before that, before T.O. made that catch for the 49ers to win that game, the Packers had scored a long touchdown. And my buddy is a 49ers fan who was at Lambeau watching the game,

and he just, like, slumped in his seat. He just fell in his seat when the Packers took the lead late. And an older lady sitting next to him started patting him on the back. Packers fan lady started patting him on the back, and he started patting him on the back and telling him it'll be all right. My only time ever going to Lambeau, I got a chance to go and I had, like, luxury suite tickets, which also includes you can go up to, they have a balcony on the north over that, like, hangs over the north north end zone and it's an amazing view

dude it's you can see like half of wisconsin from there and you have like a bird's eye view of the field it's crazy um but so we went up there and it's kind of crowded so and there's only so much like rail space for your front row so to speak to look down over the balcony and i'm wearing full bears gear it's packard's bears i'm wearing full Bears gear. It's Packers Bears. I'm wearing full Bears gear, and this lady, she's like, oh, do you want a better view? Here, come in. I'll back up. Here, you can take my spot.

Like, they're super, super nice, and so I don't think it's as intimidating as some other. I've never been to U.S. Bank Stadium, so I don't know if they're, like, throwing beers or doing worse things than that to the players, but I think Lambeau is less intimidating than other places because people are just so damn nice there. It's crazy. I think that U.S. Bank Stadium is purely on being insanely loud,

not being raucous. Because having been in Philadelphia for the playoff game against the Vikings, that is raucous. That is dangerous level raucous uh that is dangerous level okay and uh so you know that that's a different level of home field advantage where you scared all the other fans uh from even traveling to philadelphia ever again i think so i don't think packers fans have ever scared anybody at least not not in the last 20 years or so and i and i respect this a lot like Like, usually places like Buffalo and Philadelphia that get legit dangerous outside of the stadiums get the, like, yeah, that's the real football fan. I'm like, this is not that serious.

Yeah, really. You shouldn't be harming other people. Just wear clothes. I mean, like. Did you just throw that guy through a table? What is happening? Love your team, but don't threaten anyone else. I mean, my gosh.

So the outside of Lambeau walking in or the outside of U.S. Bank Stadium, it's a very nice atmosphere, and I can respect that, I think, more than one that's scary. I forgot. I was tailgating, and I had some brats that I was going to cook up, and my grill wouldn't start up. And, again, I'm in head-to-toe Bears gear. The dudes tailgating next to me, they're like, hey, here, take these. They just gave me a bunch of cooked brats,

and I gave them the raw ones that I hadn't cooked yet. Like, I didn't even ask. They just offered. They saw we were having difficulties and just offered to a Bears fan, here, take our cooked bratwurst. Give us your raw ones that you can't cook, you idiot, who didn't come with the grill. That works.

So, yeah, I agree that that's a much better atmosphere to enjoy sports. Maybe that makes me not football enough. I don't know. Here's your next question. Your favorite Vikings-Packers game can be any time that you've watched any Packers Vikings game, 90s, 2000s, recent, which one? Okay. You're going to be mad at my answer because it's not technically a Packers

Vikings game, but it's a Packers Vikings moment. Okay. All right. That's fine. I don't remember the exact year, but it was week 17, and the Packers or the Vikings were going to the playoffs. The Vikings just needed either a Packers loss, or they needed to win their game in Arizona to go to the playoffs. You have that encyclopedic memory. Maybe you can tell me what year this is.

And the Packers had the noon game. They won. So the Vikings had to win the 3 o'clock game in the afternoon to claim their playoff spot and move on. And I want to say it was Josh McCown. It was. Your favorite quarterback. To Nate Poole, yep. Threw a touchdown to Nate Poole to end the Vikings season and put the Packers in the play.

And I hate the Packers, but just that type of drama, dude, that a last-second touchdown from Josh McCown, of all people, to Nate Poole to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs, that was – I don't know why, but that's like an NFL moment that stays with me for some reason. Even though I hate the Packers, it's just that type of drama and that much on the line, and for it to come down to that was amazing.

And the Vikings should have been a great team that year. I think they started out 6-1 or 5-0 or something like that. That is absolutely cheating on this question. The question is best Vikings-Packers game, so you're going to have to submit another answer. I'll give you mine. All right. Mine is my first regular season game covering the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. I had covered a preseason game before that after I moved here in 2016.

But, you know, I mean, it was the fourth preseason game of all things, so it just couldn't have mattered any less. And there was all the drama with Teddy Bridgewater and what was going to happen. And I don't remember anything except for Jared Goff playing in the fourth preseason game, which I found to be bizarre. But then, talk about the noise level, the atmosphere. It was national TV. Sam Bradford put on a tremendous performance. He made a number of throws that were just like mind-blowingly accurate throws. The catch that Stephon Diggs made around the middle of the field off a play-action throw from Bradford.

I mean, it all just, at the end of the game, it ends with a Rodgers interception, and the noise level of that place just blew the roof off. And it was nothing like I'd ever covered before. The place was especially ramped up for being the very first game ever at us bank stadium and uh that was that was just incredible okay i have an actual game okay go ahead yeah i don't know why this didn't come to me immediately when you asked brett farms first game against the green bay packers as a member of the minnesota vikings i mean again i was working in milwaukee at the time

and the way that packers fans turned, I mean, not all of them. It was very much divided. There was the Brett Favre camp, and there was the Packers and Aaron Rodgers camp, but there was, like, vitriol for Brett Favre. We, at our radio station, threw what we called the Farb-a-Q, where we, at a local bar, we lit a bonfire, and people could bring their Brett Favre gear to throw into the bonfire. We also had a car that had, like, I wasn't there.

I was the producer back in the studio. But we had a car that was, like, I don't know, it had, like, number fours painted on it or something. And people could take a sledgehammer and, like, beat up the car and take out their Brett Favre anger. So there was that type of anger for him and as a Bears fan a lot of you know that that that made me feel all warm and fuzzy to see Packers fans riled up and hating their Hall of Fame quarterback and for him to stick it to him and win that game now of course this has been my life the Packers got the best of it in the end because Aaron Rodgers got broke the next year or excuse me Brett Favre got broke the next year Aaron Rodgers wins an the next year, or excuse me, Brett Favre got broke the next year. Aaron Rodgers wins an MVP, wins the Super Bowl, blah, blah, blah,

because that's what they do. But that moment, to see Brett Favre get the best of the Packers after everything that those two sides went through in that divorce, and to just see Packers fans get that dagger twisted a little bit of their Hall of Fame quarterback, leaving them for the rivals, coming back and beating them, that was really, really enjoyable for me as a Bears fan working in Wisconsin. That's a great choice. And Favre played so well in that game. I mean, he beat the Packers both times that year at the Metrodome and at Lambeau Field. So either one of those. But that one

particularly had the extra drama. And for a guy whose reputation was that he threw an interception at all the biggest times, which he did, he also had way more times where the pressure was completely on him, everything was on his shoulders, and he stepped up and played better than anyone on the field that day. And that's exactly what he did in that particular game. So that's a great choice. Have you seen Brett Favre lately, by the way? Yeah, I think that he's thinking about, you know, mom's spaghetti on his sweater already because he's calm and ready to drop bombs.

What is with the blonde? What? He didn't figure it out. He looks like Eminem at 50. And an ad for, like, some weed bomb. Like, isn't that what it is? Isn't it some kind of cannabis balm? Yeah.

Okay. All right. Whatever works for you, dude. The Chronic Three, I guess. I don't know. It's weird. And the guns are gone. Remember when he first retired and like we saw him a year later and he had the Santa Claus beard, but like Hulk Hogan guns? The guns are gone. Remember when he first retired and we saw him a year later and he had the Santa Claus beard but Hulk Hogan guns?

The guns are gone now. I don't know what's going on with Brett Favre. I know. I think he's finally sort of decided that his career is over. There was a video maybe two or three years ago of him throwing lasers. I saw that. Wait, is Brett Favre coming back? So maybe that's over and he's on to his hip-hop career.

Fascinating. coming back so maybe maybe that's over and he's on to his hip-hop career so fascinating uh last question for you rami for hot routes here is um give me a bizarre reason why each team could win on sunday a bizarre reason each team could win like uh i'm leaving the door very much wide open for interpretation here. Hmm. All right. Aaron Rodgers goes down with an injury. We're doing this in Minnesota, right? Packers fans aren't going to hear this. This has happened before in 2017. Aaron Rodgers goes down with an injury,

and it's Don Makowski, Brett Favre all over again. Jordan Love comes on the field, and despite everything we've heard about how terrible he looked in training camp and could hardly complete a pass, more than 20 yards down the field, Jordan Love comes on and starts a Hall of Fame career as the next great quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, knocking off the Minnesota Vikings in dramatic fashion. Is that random enough?

It's pretty random. It's very random. A bad college quarterback who they probably shouldn't have traded up in the first round to get coming on and winning a game in dramatic fashion. All right. For the Vikings, what's a random? See, I think the Vikings are going to win this football game. So it's hard for me to come up with a random weird way for it to happen. They have a history with kickers, right? They got that history. That they do.

Let's say the Vikings try a long field goal at the end of the game to win it. Well, I have to make sure that I draw this scenario up right. What I want is a long field goal that doesn't quite make it to the goal post and the Packers catch it and try and return it, fumble it. Fumble. Okay, great. The Vikings pick it up, take it to the house, and exercise all the kicking demons that have

haunted them over the history of the Minnesota Vikings. It's perfect. It's absolutely perfect. Thank you very much. You're going in somewhat of a similar direction than I was going to go through. The Vikings losing the game, it would be their fifth-round rookie that they drafted to be only a punt returner that has one bounce off his helmet directly into the hands of a Packer who runs it in to win the game. That's what I was thinking is it's got to be one

of these random rookies because there's going to be a lot of, wait, who is that guy in week one, I think for fans and KJ Osborne certainly is not one of the most recognizable Vikings. So I'm going to go with that for the random way that the Vikings could lose. Random way that they could win. Quarterback injury is always an interesting one, like Sean Mannion who's just gotten, you know, Vikings fans don't like him. How about this? I got this. So on cut down day, a lot of Vikings fans were upset that Chad Beebe got the job

instead of Alexander Hollins, which is just not a thing. You should really lose any sleep. Yeah, nobody should really care. But how about a, like, last-second drive, and they throw an underneath route to Chad Beebe. He breaks four tackles, takes it to the house to win the game for the Vikings. I think that would be the most bizarre and random. After everybody was so upset, why did they keep him,

that he ends up taking one to the house to win the game for the Vikings? I think Packers fans would have mixed feelings about that because white wide receiver. Right, yeah, that's right. Doing big things. They should play him more. We should get that guy. And actually, Chad Beebe's best play as a Minnesota Viking

happened against the Packers last year, one week before he got injured. So anyway, Rami, this was really fun to catch up and break down some Vikings and Packers, and I know that we're on audio only, but your dog has made a few appearances with his snoot, and it's nice to see him as well. Oh, man. There he is. Look at that guy.

I might have to release the video. Release the video. Let's look at him. By the way, that right there, I mentioned the Walter Payton portrait. This right here, that's my former co-host, Gary Ellison. Oh, how about that? Yeah, that is some nice wall art that you have there in the house. That's the only packer I would hang up on my wall.

Well, great to see you. Great to see you, dude. I'm glad we could connect and enjoy your continued fill-in hosting in Milwaukee. It's got to be weird. If anybody cares to hear me next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the 16th, 17th, and 18th, I'll be filling in for Bill Michaels' midday. So check it out on the radio.com app. You know I have to get in my shameless plugs, Matthew. What they really need is to let you host post-game

because that would be like a weird Inceptions sort of situation. All right, Rami. Well, great stuff. Great to see you again. And we'll talk again soon, buddy. Thanks, dude. Anytime. Hi, my name is Bobby Peters,

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